One Day at the Fishing Pond
by Black Tunic Link
Summary: Link finds out the truth of OoT and goes off to fish and think. A stranger finds himself tossed into Hyrule.


(Yeah, I don't own these characters, except Jack and maybe Jalsin but as this is my fan fiction, I'm writing it my way. If you don't like the ending, I don't care. What do you want me to do with it, have Zelda marry Link? Yeah friggin' right. Write your own story if you really want something your way. If you like it, drop me a line. I always appreciate compliments and the occasional typo notice.)

**One day at the fishing pond**

By: Black Tunic Link

It had been a decent day for fishing and Link had been out at the crack of dawn trying to catch the elusive Hylian loach. Although the man behind the counter hadn't been very helpful, as was typical of the so called "pro's" that Link had met throughout his fishing days, Link knew exactly what to do to catch the fish. The problem was, the damned thing never wanted to bite his lure, sinking or not. As he sat fishing yet again, a young boy approached him.

"Say mister, what's so fun about sitting around trying to catch slimly old fish anyways?" Asked the boy in complete naivety.

Link was pleased that the youth did not know who he was, and decided that he would teach the boy to appreciate fishing without telling him. It had been a few years since his last great adventure when he had ventured into the dark world and defeated Ganon once again. He was now in his later 20's and although he had never married Zelda, the King still had high hopes that they would get together one day. They had had a bit of a falling out as of late when she finally revealed to him the truth of his first adventure and why he had not recalled it.

It was a sunny day at the palace and they had been talking about this and that. Link had made a playful jab about how he was always rescuing her and had said that it had been four times. Zelda reflexively corrected him, saying that it was five times before realizing what she had done. After that, an explanation was unavoidable and the lost chapter of Link's life was finally revealed to him. Link knew that he was being unkind to avoid Zelda but it had shaken him deeply that a whole other life had been played out and then had been erased without hesitation. Now he fished every day at the pond, trying to hide from the thoughts of false regret that tried to play through his mind. He sat patiently; day in and day out, trying to catch a fish that he knew he would only throw back again.

"Well son, it's kind of like a battle between you and the fish. But it's not a battle of swords and magic, no it's a battle of minds. Patience is a hard thing to come by these days and so, no one really fishes here anymore. But somewhere in this pond is a fish so big, it's said that it eats the other lunkers in here from time to time." Explained Link, drawing in the boy's curiosity.

"Wow! Really! I want to catch it. Is it hard to fish?"

"Not really, but it does cost 20 rupees to do it."

"But I don't have 20 rupees. That's so much money; I'd never make that much in a million years!"

"Tell you what, if you promise to come here twice a week before the cuckoo crows, then I'll pay for you and I'll teach everything there is to learn. Does that sound like fun?"

"Wow mister, you must be rich or something!"

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. The guy back there is a friend of mine and I can get you in for free. But only if you promise to do as I say."

"I promise. I'll be here tomorrow."

"Okay, that's great. But remember, if you don't show up before the cuckoo crows, I can't get you in for free."

The boy ran off and Link spent the rest of the day trying to catch the loach. Once again he was foiled and left with a slightly lighter wallet and some anticipation as to what tomorrow would bring. He went to his home in the forest, thinking pleasantly of when he was a boy but those thoughts quickly turned sour when they brought him back to his troubles with Zelda. Had he ever fished in that other life? Had he ever caught the loach? Had he married Zelda, or had he fallen in love with some other women who he didn't know now? These thoughts raced though his head like comets, invading his dreams with odd parodies and nightmares. And as he slept, someone was just waking up, and wondering how he had gotten where he was.

**The Beach**

Jack found himself lying on a beach somewhere and couldn't for the life of him, figure out where he was or how he had gone from a warm bed to a cold, sandy beach. As he sat in disbelief, a bright figure approached him. As it came into view, Jack realized that it was a teenage boy like himself only dressed in a ponderous white tunic and hat. He had platinum colored hair and stunningly light green eyes that glimmered like emeralds. The boy carried something that was hanging diagonally across his back, but Jack couldn't make out what it might be. Jack got to his feet cautiously, and nervously waited as the figure walked straight up to him.

"Greetings stranger of these shores. I am a messenger sent to tell you one thing. You are in danger here. You have been placed here by forces much too terrible to comprehend. Find a way back before it is too late."

"Wait a minute, what is all this? Is it some kind of joke? Where the hell am I and how did I get here? Don't mess around either; I'm not in the mood."

"Look, I'm only a messenger, I don't know everything. But I do know that if you hang around here, somebody terribly important will be influenced by your presence, and, as a result, will fail in a life changing decision. I was told you wouldn't believe me, so I was asked to show you this."

The boy pulled a sword from the sheath on his back and it drove every angry outburst in Jack's mind out the window and replaced it with total, mind numbing shock. The blade that the boy had pulled from off his back was the Master Sword. His mind raced to explain what was going on.

"Look, I know this is tough but there's no way around it. You have to get out of here."

"How? I don't even know how I got here. What the hell did I do to deserve this? I'm a good guy; I go to school and don't covet my friend's girl. Well, maybe a little, but not enough to be punished."

"Calm down. I don't know how you get back but I know how you got here. Those powers I told you about, well they have a habit of making holes in time and space when they move about. And if a demi-god, or other important figure, happens to find out how to use one, then people tend to end up in places they're not supposed to be. Like you being in Hyrule."

"What powers? What are they, Gods?"

"No, no, no! Not even remotely. They are people and things endowed with powers far beyond sight. Some don't realize that they have this influence until they die and some not even then."

"So if I'm in Hyrule, who are you? I don't ever remember you in any of the games… Err…I mean… I don't remember hearing of you."

"I am Light Link. Although I have never been seen by any of the population of this nation, I have always been a messenger of one of the powers. Now that you seem to understand what has happened, however, I must get back. But, let me emphasize once more how vitally important it is that you get back to your place in your world. If you do not then the fate of one man will crumble and all of this world's inhabitants will fall as well."

"Who is it that is so important?"

"…"

Light Link never answered because at that moment, a shadowy figure leaped from the boulders and began to battle him. Jack realized that the two were remarkably similar. Suddenly he remembered who it was. Dark Link had returned once more and was fighting his light counterpart. Jack was too scared to move as the battle raged on until, with one smooth motion, Dark Link swooped under Light Link's defenses and loped his head off. Light Link exploded in the typical fireworks and disappeared. The version of the Master Sword that he was carrying fell to the ground and its glow dimmed away to nothing. Dark Link turned to him with bright red eyes gleaming from his otherwise featureless face. He raised the dark Master Sword and pointed it at Jack. But a dark blue aura suddenly sprang up around Jack as if to save him. Dark Link laughed a vicious laugh and tapped it lightly with his sword. The aura turned pitch black and retracted suddenly. Jack found himself momentarily hovering in the air and then he fell back down to earth. He went to check himself for injuries but instead found himself wearing a black tunic similar to Dark Link's.

"Tell Link when you see him that he will never know peace again. If he doesn't kill you on sight." Rasped Dark Link and laughed once more, then vanished into the twilight.

**Jalsin**

Link awoke the next morning and went to the fishing pond. The boy was there earlier than he was. Obviously, the boy had more enthusiasm for fishing than Link had originally supposed. The first thing Link did was to slip the man forty rupees over the counter so that the boy wouldn't see. Then he sat down at the edge of the pond and showed the boy each part of the rod and how it worked. After the boy had figured out all of that, Link let have a few practice casts at the center of the pond where no fish were. The boy, whose name was Jalsin, went home with a smile on his face and promised to be back on the next day. Many days went by until one day Link and the boy were both competing to catch the loach every day. After about two and a half weeks, however, Jalsin's parents began to wonder, what the kid was doing all the day rather than his chores? So, one day they followed him to the fishing pond and found him fishing with Link. After Jalsin returned home, he was severely reprimanded for bothering the Hero of Time and forbidden to go to the fishing pond ever again. So the next day, when Jalsin didn't show up to fish, Link became worried. But he had never told Link where he lived and so there was nothing Link could do.

Less then a day later, a figure stumbled into town causing people to flee back into their houses as if Ganondorf himself had returned. Jalsin was at the local bazaar, trying to buy some food for his Mom when the figure came into town. All the people that had been crowding the vendor panicked, and began to scramble away as fast as they could. Jalsin was bowled over and when he looked up, he was staring at a somewhat familiar face. A hand was extended to him, which he took. He found himself staring at Link but something was wrong with him. For one, he was wearing all black clothing rather than the green and white that he usually wore. For another thing, his hair was now brownish-blonde where it had been straight blonde before. And his face was slightly different.

"Who…who are you? Why are you dressed like Link?"

"Don't be afraid, I'm not who you think I am. My name is Jack. I need to find Link desperately and every one thinks I'm Dark Link."

"I've heard about Dark Link. He was a vicious, ruthless clone of Link who would stop at nothing to kill him. Why would you dress like Dark Link for? It's nice to scare people if it's not Halloween."

"I know, but I had no choice. Dark Link did something to me so that I can't change my clothes and everyone sees me as him."

"But you're only wearing Dark Link's clothes. That wouldn't scare people off."

"What do mean. Don't you see the red eyes and the blacked out face?"

"No, you look more like Link than Dark Link. I know, I used to fish with Link before my parents found out."

"Is that where he is, the fishing pond?"

"Yeah, he's there everyday, but I can't go and see him 'cause mum said that he's the 'Hero of Time' and he has lots of 'important stuff to do.' But all he really wants to do is catch this really big fish! I shouldn't have told you that though, you could be a bad guy."

"Kid, what's your name?"

"Jalsin."

"Look Jalsin, if I were a bad guy, don't you think you would have known?"

"No, you could be tricking me. The only way to tell for sure is to see if you have bad guys face."

"How?"

Jalsin walked to Jack and when Jack knelt down, Jalsin began to ply his face into a sneer. It took only a few seconds but Jalsin treated it with the utmost seriousness. It was only ruined by his giggling at the end.

"You look funny like that, so you can't be a bad guy. If you want, I'll show you where the fishing pond is."

"That would be great…"

Just then, a couple of guards came up behind him and seized him from behind. Before Jack could say a word, they had his hands tied and a dozen spears pointed at him.

"Run kid! I don't know what he's been saying to you but forget it. This is a very bad man and we need to take care of him." Shouted one of the guards so fiercely that Jalsin, who couldn't stand yelling, ran away crying.

"Now, as for you. You can come quietly without fuss until Zelda can deal with you, or we can beat you unconscious and drag you back to the castle. What's it going to be?"

Jack realized that because he looked exactly like Dark Link to everyone including himself, there was no sense in trying to convince the guards that he was not who he appeared to be.

"I'll come quietly." He whispered, barely able to hold back the rage and confusion that was racing through his body.

The guards all looked visibly relieved when he said this, but were still very much alert as they led him away. The people of the town cheered the guards and booed Jack as he went down the town's only street.

**Oops**

Link, that same day, had finally come to terms with his missing time and decided to settle things between him and Zelda. As he made his way back to castle, Hyrule town was in an uproar. At first, he thought it might be his small fan following that occasionally stalked him. He soon found out from a passing villager that Dark Link was alive and in the castle. Mistaking the man's words, Link ran to the castle and burst through the gates. He ran all the way up to Zelda's room and threw the door open. No one was in the room, but noises were emanating from a closed door on the left wall. Link rushed to the door and, finding it locked, drew his sword and kicked it in. Zelda was in a bathtub singing and relaxing in the hot water. She screamed when Link busted the door down and Link, startled, stumbled over the edge of the door and fell face first into the thick oak that it was made of. Zelda realized who it was and grabbed at a towel. She wrapped it around herself as Link got up and started blundering apologies.

"What the hell are you doing barging in here after not talking to me for weeks?"

"Someone said Dark Link was here and I thought maybe he'd come after you again."

"Oh…Well actually the guards captured him and he's in the prison block. I was getting a bath out of the way before I went down into that filthy place. And stop staring. As a matter of fact, get the hell out of my room until I'm decent."

Red faced, Link quickly left the room and waited outside for Zelda to come out. He silently congratulated himself for being a complete moron and ruining any chance of making up with Zelda. She came out wearing her typical princess attire and didn't say a word to Link. Instead, she walked past him and started towards the prisons.

"Look, I'm sorry I burst in on you like that. I didn't stop to listen to the entire story and I thought you might be in trouble. I've made a complete ass of myself and I'm sorry."

"Oh, so leaving me here for two months and not saying a word the entire time is just supposed to be fine and dandy. Don't you think I know how hard it is to deal with something like this? I kept thinking that if I hadn't sent you back, maybe we would have been closer than we are now. But here we are avoiding each other and not getting along at all. Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep thinking that I'd never see you again?"

"Oh Gods Zelda, I'm sorry. I just didn't know how to deal with it. At first, I was angry with you for keeping it a secret for so long but I eventually got over that. But I still couldn't deal with it. It was so hard to just let it go. I couldn't figure out how to apologize. It was just all so confusing."

Link grabbed Zelda's shoulder and spun her around into a hug. The hug turned into a passionate kiss, which lasted for well over two minutes.

"I really do care about you Zelda, but it's just so hard with all this damn fame and glory. I can't do much of anything without everyone in Hyrule knowing and I didn't want to fall in love with you just for them."

They continued to talk, friends once more, all the way to the dungeon.

**Jack**

Link and Zelda, happy once again, quickly lost that feeling upon seeing the occupant of the prison cell. Here was the man responsible for so many catastrophes that even scholars had trouble recalling all of them. As they entered the room, Dark Link looked up with his blazing red eyes. Link felt the urge to end this thing's life again with his sword. His hatred was almost tangible.

"Oh, thank God! I hoped I could find you. I thought maybe I'd be trapped here forever." Rasped Dark Link in the chilly voice Link remembered all too well.

"What are you doing here Dark Link? I'll only ask you once and I'll probably kill you anyways." Spat Link, fury emphasizing each word.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm not Dark Link. I know it's hard to believe because I look just like him and everything but I'm telling the truth. My name is Jack. I came from another world and I need to get back. Please believe me!"

"Who do you think you're trying to fool? Do think after all the evil that you've done that we could believe you at all? Ever?"

"Please! Believe me! I don't want to die here in this cell. I'm not Dark Link. I can't be Dark Link."

"Wait!" Shouted Zelda as Link drew his sword. "If he is telling the truth, maybe we can prove it."

"What? You're actually going to believe this…vile creature?"

"Something's not right about him. If he was Dark Link, I don't think that the guards could possibly have caught him. But what else do we have to prove that he is who he says he is.?"

"Nothing, let's just kill him once and for all. I never want him to cause you harm again."

"I can tell you things. Things that only you would know. I know that you went to a place called Termina after you rescued Zelda and returned to your own time. I also know about Koholint Island and how you freed the Wind Fish."

"But, I never told anyone about those except Zelda. How could you…"

"Because, I'm not from this world. It's hard to believe but Dark Link killed Light Link and then he transformed me into him. The only one who can see who I really am is some kid named Joslin or something,"

"Jalsin?"

"Yeah, that was it. He said he'd go fishing with you."

"Then you're not Dark Link. He would have killed that boy if he was, Link."

As soon as she said this, Jack suddenly became visible to them. He looked like Link save his hair, eyes, and tunic color. Zelda freed him from the cell and they went to her chambers to discuss what to do.

"If people who don't know who you are see you, they'll see Dark Link. So you'll have to stay here until we can find him." Reasoned Zelda.

"Wait. I remember he said something. He said 'Tell Link that he will never know peace again." Recalled Jack.

"Then he could only be heading to one place, the fishing pond!" Shouted Link, racing out of the room.

Zelda and Jack ran after him. They all hopped on horses and rode as fast as they could for the fishing pond. When they got there, everything was ghostly silent. Not even birds were singing. Link advised them to stay back as he cautiously opened the door. Link crept in and so did Zelda. Jack was about to follow when he noticed Light Link's master sword on the beach, slightly farther up from the building. He realized what had happened. He'd led them all into a trap. Jack grabbed the sword and ran back to the building as fast as he could. When he got through the door, he found Dark Link standing there with Jalsin, sword against the boy's neck. Link was shouting at Dark Link to let the boy go. Dark Link said that he would only let the boy go if Link agreed to die in exchange. Zelda screamed but Link offered himself up, as all heroes do. But before Dark Link could bring his sword up, Jack rushed forward and tackled Dark Link. All was a blur of black and green for a moment and Jack stabbed at the first thing that came into his view. His vision cleared and he found Link skewered on his sword. Dark Link laughed evilly until a shaft of steel pierced his tunic. He exploded and disappeared but Link was still impaled upon Jack's sword.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Oh God I didn't know." Jack cried.

In that moment, time itself slowed down, and for a second Jack thought he saw two Links on the sword. Then, quite suddenly, Link was behind him rather than on the sword.

"What the hell just happened? I thought I killed you. You were right here…" Said Jack through his tears.

"I think I know what happened. Some kind of odd paradox was created when I told Link about the first adventure. For some reason, you were sent here as a balance to the two existing timelines. So when you killed Link, you killed one of the time lines. And because it was you and not Dark Link, you severed the connection. That's why you like yourself again." Explained Zelda, smiling.

"Thanks Jack. I guess I owe you my life, or something." Said Link and then aside to Jack. "I don't really get it either, don't worry about it."

"I know this has all been terribly exciting, and I really think it's nice to be in this world, but I just want to get back to my own world. Is there any one who knows how to get me back."

"Oh, that's easy. I'll just play you a song on the Ocarina of Time and you'll wake up and think this was all a dream."

"Whatever works I guess. But I just ask one thing. Could I have your autographs?"

Zelda sent Jack back to his own world and with that out of the way they were about to share another one of those kisses when they remembered that Jalsin was still there and had been watching the whole thing. This caused them to laugh and they invited Jalsin to come visit them anytime he wanted.

"But…" Said Jalsin, crying.

"Why are you crying, everything worked out fine. We're all safe." Said Link reassuringly.

"I won't be able to come fishing with you anymore 'cause mum said that I can't. I wanted to help you the loach."

"If we tell your Mom how brave you were today, I'll bet she'll let you. What do you say?" Asked Zelda.

**Epilogue**

A few days later, Link and Jalsin sat at the fishing pond talking about all the adventures that Link had had, Suddenly, Jalsin's line snapped forwards. He started to reel in but the fish was way too big for him to pull. Link helped him and all the while Jalsin kept yelling that he'd caught the loach. In the end, it took two hours and the combined strength of Jalsin, Link, and the man that ran the place to pull it in. It was a 26 pound lunker; the biggest fish ever recorded being caught. And although it wasn't the loach, Link was happy to have helped the little boy to catch a fish without needing to be famous or brave.

The End


End file.
